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Over three years ago, Miley Cyrus and Metallica teamed up to cover the band’s song “Nothing Else Matters” at the Howard Stern Show. It was during that era when she was on a streak of covers, belting everything from Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” to the Cocteau Twins’ “Heaven or Las Vegas” at award shows and radio appearances seemingly just because. Her “Nothing Else Matters” cover however, stood out as it was one of the rare times she tackled something heavier and harder, wailing out the song’s title in her now-signature rasp as James Hetfield harmonized along. Its extreme success — it sits at over 27 million views on YouTube — proved one thing: the world needed a pure rock and roll moment from Miley.
Well, that moment might’ve finally arrived. On Monday, Cyrus released “Something Beautiful,” the title single from next album that arrives in May and her most scorching, honest-to-god rock song to date. It’s on the hook where the song totally explodes into territory that Cyrus hasn’t explored before as screaming electric guitars and thunderous drums collide over her seductive whispers: “I’m losin’ my breath, yes / Boy, you’re markin’ up my necklace.” It sounds heavy, even though she’s just whispering. But then she really does take it there as she full-on screams in the outro: “Eat my heart, break my soul / Take my parts, let me go.”
“Something Beautiful” seems to suggest that her new album will finally deliver the capital-R Rock Miley the world didn’t know it wanted a decade ago but is now rabid for. The pivot feels like a natural progression for Cyrus who previously flirted with the idea on her 2020 record Plastic Hearts. On that record, she went glam rock, courting features from Billy Idol and Joan Jett, but didn’t fully commit to the bit. The music, while getting grungy and dirty, still retained a strong pop backbone. “Something Beautiful” obliterates that backbone, oscillating from jazzy, soulful verses to its dense, hulking choruses. That’s exciting — it might be the furthest Miley has leaned into a sound since her (critically panned) Dead Petz era.
This adds so much more intrigue to the arrival of her new album of the same name, which she’s teased to be a project of psychedelia, horror, and glamour — vague descriptors, but now we see where she’s going with it. In interviews, she described Something Beautiful as a project equally inspired by Pink Floyd’s The Wall and vintage Thierry Mugler couture collections. These are two vastly different worlds, but what they have in common is they were created by distinct visionaries. With Something Beautiful, Miley’s striving for her own.
